Genus/Species Pronounciation Thread

I guess this would be a good thread for members to inquire how to pronounce a few names. Here is my list I am unclear of(I'll list a species and how I assume it's pronounced, then someone can correct them):

1) Chromatopelma Cyaneopubescens: "Chrome-a-ta-pell-mah Sigh-an-neo-pube-escence" ?

2) Lasiodora parahybana: "Lazz-e-o-dora pair-a-banna"?

3) Pterinochilus murinus: "Pet-tear-eeen-o-chill-us mure-in-us"?

4) Citharischius crawshayi: "Sith-are-is-key-us craww-shay-e"?

5) Psalmapoeus irminia: "Piss-all-moe-puss er-min-e-a"?

6) Poecilotheria striata: "Poke-e-low-there-e-a stree-at-a"?

7) Xenethsis(sp?) immanis: "Zenn-e-the-sis imm-an-is"?

I'm no expert, but I'll change them to how I happen to say them. (I'm horrible at writing out pronounciations :?)

1) Chromatopelma Cyaneopubescens: "Chrome-ato-pell-mah Sigh-an-neo-pube-escence" ?

2) Lasiodora parahybana: "Lass-io-dara pair-a-hibanna"?

3) Pterinochilus murinus: "Pt-air-in-o-chill-us mure-in-us"?

4) Citharischius crawshayi: "Sith-are-is-schus craww-shay-e"?

5) Psalm(o)poeus irminia: "S-all-moe-peus ir-min-e-a"?

6) Poecilotheria striata: "Po-ecil-o-there-ia stree-at-a"?

Below is a link to some of the more common ones. Much thanks to the ATS for this info.

A Key to the Pronunciation and Meaning of Scientific Names of Popular Species

Keep in mind that these are not set in stone. There really isn't a right or wrong way to pronounce them. Just about everyone says them differently.

lol... being a bit of a geek and having taken latin in high-school for three years, when i entered the invertebrate hobby, i had a bit of an inclination to pronounce the latin names... well.. in LATIN. and also, construct plurals according to latin rather than english grammar. alas, i found there was generally confusion for instance when i said i was looking for some h. trilineati (tree-LEE-nay-AH-tee), or when i was talking about my two h. livida (LEE-vee-dah)...

so really... what i'm trying to say is.. the purpose of using these names is to be able to communicate to another person precisely what you're talking about, and so pronouncing them the way they are commonly pronounced seems more conducive to this goal than pronouncing them the way you latin teacher/professor would like you to!

AND, i guess it gets even more confusing when the latin name isn't latin because the species is named after the person who discovered it, who has a last name like jackson, smith, or franzwerner!

cheers!
- munis

I've made the point 1000 times that even linguists will disagree on pronunciation, people with different native languages and accents will necessarily pronounce things differently and, most importantly, that pronunciation is not important as long as scientific names are used and a fear of improper pronunciation doesn't hinder the increase in scientific name usage. That said, there are some rules that one can follow, such as emphasizing the penultimate (second to last) syllable and pronouncing the suffix -i correctly (ee). As controversial as this topic is, I will be adding audio files to my tarantula bibliography with my pronunciations of theraphosid binomial names, and popular variants where applicable. Here, using my own system of phonetics, I will address the species you mentioned. Once again, this is how I pronounce them based on a great deal of experience and my research. But that doesn't make them right - just good guides for you. Debate will continue, needlessly, endlessly.

Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens
kroh-mat-uh-PELL-muh sy-an-ee-oh-pooh-BESS-ehns

Lasiodora parahybana
lass-ee-oh-DOHR-uh pair-uh-hy-BAN-uh

Pterinochilus murinus
tair-ih-no-KILL-uhs* muhr-IN-uhs
* note: most people pronounce the genus tair-ih-NOCK-il-uhs

Citharischius crawshayi
sith-uh-RISH-ee-uhs craw-SHAY-ee

Psalmopoeus irminia
sal-muh-PEE-uhs* uhr-mihn-EE-uh
* note: the majority of people pronounce the genus sal-MOH-pee-uhs

Poecilotheria striata
pee-sill-uh-THUHR-ee-uh* stree-AH-tuh
* note: most people pronounce the genus poh-sill-uh-theer-ee-uh (Brits also have a tendency to use a hard "c" sound). However, IMHO "poh" is incorrect as the "oe" dipthong "should" be prounced as a long "e" sound just as in Psalmopoeus.

Xenesthis immanis
zuh-NESS-thihs ih-MAHN-ihs

While on the subject, the dipthong -ae is prounced as a long "e" as is the suffix "-i". So, the family is thair-uh-FOH-sih-dee (not -day) and it is brah-kee-PELL-muh smith-EE (not -eye).

Cheers, Michael

PS - The ATS guide Mike mentioned is a good foundation, especially since it was written by an actual linguist, but is no more 100% accurate than my post is. Pronounce them close and you will be understood the world over... just give it your best shot and don't let an unnecessary fear keep you using "common names".

to me, that was one of the funniest things about arachnocon. i don't know anyone in person that keeps spiders...and any conversation with pet store employees when i buy feeders is usually fairly short. so basically, i had never really spoken the names out loud. i have all these ideas of how they are said, but it was funny to see everyone with their own pronunciations. even though we all weren't sure exactly how to say the names, we could always tell what was being talked about.

xgrafcorex said:

to me, that was one of the funniest things about arachnocon. i don't know anyone in person that keeps spiders...and any conversation with pet store employees when i buy feeders is usually fairly short. so basically, i had never really spoken the names out loud. i have all these ideas of how they are said, but it was funny to see everyone with their own pronunciations. even though we all weren't sure exactly how to say the names, we could always tell what was being talked about.

Click to expand...

EXACTLY! Even two Germans - Volker and Martin - pronounced the same scientific name completely different. And even though some of their pronunciations were unlike anything I had heard, I knew what they were talking about. What is important is that you know what is meant, not whether it matches somebody's idea of what is "right".

xgrafcorex said:

to me, that was one of the funniest things about arachnocon. i don't know anyone in person that keeps spiders...and any conversation with pet store employees when i buy feeders is usually fairly short. so basically, i had never really spoken the names out loud. i have all these ideas of how they are said, but it was funny to see everyone with their own pronunciations. even though we all weren't sure exactly how to say the names, we could always tell what was being talked about.

Click to expand...

Haha Brian I couldn't agree more.

Michael very good post. I was hoping you were going to weigh in on this and am glad you did.

-Mike

i hate to be contentious, but i think you'll find that "ae" in latin is pronounced as the english word "eye"...

cheers!
- munis